It is known to use stiffening elements for motor vehicle subframes, which are likewise referred to as shear areas. In recent years, subframes have been designed to be increasingly lighter. The stiffening elements serve here to impart the required rigidity to the subframes. Conventional subframes are designed as sheetlike areas which are arranged below the steering mechanism.
A first disadvantage of the known stiffening elements is that, in the case of lower motor vehicles, there is little space available below the steering mechanism for attaching the stiffening elements, in order to attach a conventional stiffening element. Another disadvantage is that such sheetlike stiffening elements are suitable only for supporting tensile forces and shearing forces in just one plane which coincides with the plane of the stiffening elements. By contrast, said sheetlike stiffening elements cannot support any forces which can act vertically and asymmetrically on the subframe, for example on the part of a stabilizer. A further disadvantage is that such stiffening elements may block the assembly path to the steering mechanism and may not protect the steering mechanism against engine heat.